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Health Tracker Stats Fun - Jawbone Up24 vs. Nike FuelBand

After being a Nike FuelBand user for several years I’ve got myself an Up24 and decided to compare the data I am getting with both of the devices. While some of the data, like calorie burn, is subject to interpretation, the other data, such as steps, should have been more or less mechanically calculated. Surprisingly the data between the two devices had as much as 70% difference with Up24 usually counting more steps and Nike FuelBand generally recording more burnt calories.

Here are a few data points I’ve got over the past week with both devices worn on the same wrist close to 24hours a day:

Nike
Steps

Nike
Calories

Up24
Steps

Up24
Calories

19-Dec

13,986

1096

16990

946

21-Dec

8,170

1003

11317

586

23-Dec

6,685

673

5553

272

25-Dec

1,929

319

2491

146

26-Dec

5,684

940

9675

540

27-Dec

2,334

271

3341

184

Here is the difference between the two sensors:

Step
Difference

Calorie
Difference

%Diff

%Cal

19-Dec

3,004

-150

121%

86%

21-Dec

3,147

-417

139%

58%

23-Dec

-1,132

-401

83%

40%

25-Dec

562

-173

129%

46%

26-Dec

3,991

-400

170%

57%

27-Dec

1,007

-87

143%

68%

As you can see there is still no consensus on what constitutes a step and how you calculate calorie expenditure.

Up24 is a newer device and also includes a sleep tracker to maybe has more advanced math, but there is no way for me to claim which one is more accurate. Both devices accomplished one thing well – giving me instant feedback on when I am active and making me feel good about moving around during the day.

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